Cypriot Syllable Sa

It represents the spoken syllable “sa” in Cypriot writing. A syllabary records spoken syllables, so this sign contributes a sound within a word rather than naming an object or standing as a word by itself.

The earliest proposed evidence for the script is a short inscription on a bronze spit found in a tomb at Palaepaphos-Skales, dated to the 11th century BCE. The Cypriot syllabary developed from Cypro-Minoan writing. It later recorded Cypriot Greek and, at Amathus, Eteocypriot; choices in bilingual inscriptions could express local identity or political position.

Ancient sign forms varied between the Common and Paphian repertoires, so this encoded character is not one timeless drawing. The syllabary gave way to alphabetic Greek during the Hellenistic period.